Dental impression tray



Dec. 7, 1954 P. s. NEUWIRTH 2,695,046

DENTAL IMPRESSION TRAY Filed July 17, 1955 Peyton SMney' Neuwirfh 34 IN VEN TOR.

United States Patent" DENTAL. IMPRESSION Peyton Sidney N'euwirth, Peoria, 1]].

Application July IT, 1953', Serial No. 368,689

6 Claimsz. (Cl. 32 -118) This. inventionrelates tornewand useful improvements indental impression trays and. the primary object. of the present; invention is to, provide: a dental impression tray including a pair of" tray formzing members which are h-ingedly and removably connected: together whereby the tray-forming members may be separated. after any impression: material contained therein has hardened.

Another important object. of, the. present. invention is to. provide a. dental. impression. tray composed of. two hingedly and removably connected tray-forming members, one of which is. provided with; means for releasably holding a. U-shaped water receiving tube. which will tend: to

6001; a relatively warnn impression materiak placed in. the tray-forming members: for the purpose. of reducingthe time requiredzfor settingofanhnpressiom material.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a collapsible dental impression tray" which may be comfortably placedwithin either the. left or, right side of a users mouth in a convenient manner.

A further aim of the present invention is to providea dentafl impression tray. that is; extremely simple and practical in construction, strong and reliable in use, eflicient and durable in operation, small and compact in structure, inexpensive to manufacture, and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the present invention assembled for use;

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken substlantially on the plane of section line 22 of Figure Figure 3 is a top plan view of the present invention, showing the channel-shaped retainer removed and the tray-forming members pivoted away from each other, and further, showing in dotted lines the hinge pin removed from the knuckles of the hinge sections;

Figure 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken substalntially on the plane of section line 44 of Figure 3; an

Figure 5 is a group perspective View showing the channel-shaped retainer and the water receiving tube spaced relative to the tray-forming members.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein for the purpose of illustration, there is disclosed a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the numerals and 12 represent a pair of dental tray-forming members which are preferably constructed from light material that may be readily cleaned and retained in a relatively sanitary condition. The members 10 and 12 are elongated and include flanged inner edge portions 14 and 16 that project inwardly of the inner faces of the members 10 and 12.

A hinge 18 joins the members 10 and 12 and includes sections or leaves 20 and 22 that are fixed, by suitable means, such as cement, to the outer faces of the members 10 and 12. The knuckles 24 of hinge section 20 are interdigitated with the knuckles 26 of the hinge section 22 and a removable pin 28 extends axially through the knuckles 24 and 26 to removably connect the sections 20 and 22 together.

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Knuckles 24 and 26 are disposed in spaced parallel: relationship to flanged edge portions 1 .4 and. 16, so that the members 10 and 12 may be: pivoted toward and away from. each other and, further, so: that edge portions; 14' and 16 may" rest one against the other when the members 101 and 12 are: moved toward each other, from the. position shown in Figure 4' to. the position shown in Figure 2.

Tray-forming member 12 is: composed of. relatively perpendicular portions or sections 30 and 32. When the members 10' and 12 are moved toward. each other, and edge portions: 14 and 16 are engaged. with one another, portion 30 wilf be perpendicular to tray forming member 10 and portion 32; will be parallel to tray-forming member 10'. The tray-forming members 10 and 12 are retained in this position by a resilient channel-shaped retainer 34: having spaced flanges 36 38- that engage the outer face of tray-forming member 10 and. the outer face of portion 32,. respectively. The web portion 40 of retainer 34: also contacts the outer face of portion 30;.

The outer longitudinal edge 42 of the tray-forming member 10 is: formed with a concavo-convexed flange 44' that parallels and faces: the edge portion 14 and. which coacts with edge portion 14 in yieldingly holding a U-shaped water receiving tube 46 against the inner face of member: 10..

In practical use of the present invention, the channelshaped retainer 34- is' engaged with the tray-forming HIGHL- bers' 1i) and 12 to retain the flanged edge portions M and 16' in contact with each other. Then, the tube 436 is slipped between. the flange 44 and. flanged edge portion'18 and supply and retaining or'outlet tubes T and T are coupled to the. ends of the tube 46.

An impression material is placed the tray formed by the members 10 and. 12 and the tray 10,. 12: is then inserted into a patients mouth to produce an impression in the material placed in the tray 10, 12. Water is circulated through tube 46 which will tend to cool the relatively warm impression material for the purpose of reducing the time required for the impression material to set.

The tray 10, 12 is then removed from the patients mouth, and after the impression material has set, the retainer 34 and pin 28 are removed so that the trayforming members 10 and 12 may be separated to permit removal of the set impression material.

It is to be noted that any suitable impression material can be utilized with this dental impression tray for making the impression, but thermo-cooled materials are especially adapted for use with the tray because of the means for circulating cooling water so as to cool and set the impression materials.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. An impression tray comprising a pair of tray-forming members having inner adjacent edge portions, a hinge joining said adjacent edge portions, said edge portions being bent to engage one another as the tray-forming members are moved toward each other, one of said trayforming members having relatively perpendicular wall portions one of which is disposed parallel to the other tray-forming member when the edge portions are engaged with one another, and a channel-shaped retainer slidably engaged with the tray-forming members and having spaced flanges engaging said other tray-forming member and the wall portion parallel thereto and thereby retaining said edge portions engaged with each other.

2. An impression tray comprising a pair of tray-fenning members having inner adjacent edge portions, a hinge joining said adjacent edge portions, said edge portions being bent to engage one another as the trayforming members are moved toward each other, and a flange on one of said tray-forming members parallel to and facing the edge portions of said one tray-forming member, and a U-shaped water receiving tube removably held against said one tray-forming member and between the flange and edge portion of said one tray-forming member.

3. An impression tray comprising a pair of tray-forming members having inner adjacent edge portions, a hinge joining said adjacent edge portions, said edge portions being bent to engage one another as the tray-forming members are moved toward each other, one of said trayforming members having relatively perpendicular wall portions one of which is disposed parallel to the other tray-forming member when the edge portions are engaged with one another, and a channel-shaped retainer slidably engaged with the tray-forming members and having spaced flanges engaging said other tray-forming member and the wall portion parallel thereto and thereby retaining said edge portions engaged with each other, the other of said tray-forming members having a flange parallel to and facing the edge portion of said other of said tray-forming members, and a U-shaped water receiving tube retained against said other of said trayforming members and held between said flange and said gdge portion of said other of said tray-forming memers.

4. An impression tray comprising first and second elongated tray-forming members each of which is provided with an inner flanged edge portion, a hinge having first and second leaves and interdigitated knuckles joined by a pin, the first leaf being secured to the outer face of the first tray-forming member, the second leaf being secured to the outer face of the second tray-forming member and said knuckles being located between said edge portions in spaced relation thereto, whereby the edge portions will engage each other as the tray-forming members are moved toward each other, said second trayforming member including relatively perpendicular wall portions one of which is disposed parallel to the first tray-forming member when the edge portions are engaged with each other, a flange on said first tray-forming member parallel to the edge portions of said first tray-forming member, and a U-shaped water receiving tube held between the flange and the edge portion of said first trayforming member and against the inner face of the latter.

5. An impression tray comprising first and second elongated tray-forming members each of which is provided with an inner flanged edge portion, a hinge having first and second leaves and interdigitated knuckles joined by a pin. the first leaf being secured to the outer face of the first tray-forming member, the second leaf being secured to the outer face of the second tray-forming member and said knuckles being located between said edge portions in spaced relation thereto, whereby the edge portions will engage each other as the tray-forming members are moved toward each other, said second trayforrning member including relatively perpendicular wall portions one of which is disposed parallel to the first tray-forming member when the edge portions are engaged with each other, a flange on said first tray-forming member parallel to the edge portion of said first trayforming member, and a U-shaped water receiving tube held between the flange and the edge portions of said first tray-forming member and against the inner face of the latter, and means slidably and removably engaging said tray-forming members to maintain the edge portions ofh said tray-forming members in contact with one an- 0 er.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein said means comprises a resilient channel-shaped retainer having spaced flanges which engage the first tray-forming member and the portion of said second tray-forming member parallel to the first tray-forming member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Name 

